Originally posted by oldschoolheroHHH winning is a bad thing from the no-surprises standpoint, but the fashion in which he accomplished it suggests a shift in direction for the WrestleMania plans.

It still involves Evolution still being in the main event with either Orton or Batista, and much as some people on the net like the idea of Batista going in, I don't. I still think Batista is only getting the pops and cheers as of late because they've been teasing his turn against HHH, but given that Batista is still HHH's buddy at the end of the show (the 'getting pinned while HHH watches' incident notwithstaning) I dunno how long they can tease the turn before people start losing their heat on him and see him as just like Flair's teased turns.

And when you also consider some people saying that HHH winning the belt would've made sense, of COURSE it did, because no one else was made to benefit from a title win. Edge was more concerned about HBK and it never felt like he could've pulled out a win, Jericho and Benoit haven't said any words about the title and were just afterthoughts (even more funny since Benoit was former champion just half a year ago), Orton's face push is stalling, and Batista winning the title then was a little iffy. So, yes, given that no one else was made to look hot other than HHH's 'enforcer', of course it made sense!

This was a one-show PPV, and I wonder if Puerto Rico is gonna be wanting another WWE show after this?

I don't know about Batista being ready for a title shot at WrestleMania. I can see Orton winning the Rumble which would overturn the ''can't face Triple H while he's champion'' rule, then bulid up Orton/Triple H tugging on Batista, then the Batsita turn comes at WrestleMania, with Orton winning the belt.

Also, wasen't it a bit obvious that both Eugene's and Lita's injuries were legit, or is it just me?

Originally posted by hhhgamewmx7I don't know about Batista being ready for a title shot at WrestleMania. I can see Orton winning the Rumble which would overturn the ''can't face Triple H while he's champion'' rule, then bulid up Orton/Triple H tugging on Batista, then the Batsita turn comes at WrestleMania, with Orton winning the belt.

If Shelton's IC reign is an indication of what a new guy can expect for his writing, I say Batista's better off as a Big Belt contender and champ. Why go through PPV subplots of him fighting Tomko, Snitsky, Kane, Simon Dean, et al., when he can have those feuds as main ... event ...

Wait. Let me try this again.

If Batista gets the belt, we could then see others whose names aren't Triple H emerge as title contenders. Edge. Benoit. Orton. Cripes, anyone but Triple H AGAIN. If Batista gets the IC belt, he's limited to a cliche angle where he gets double-teamed and cheated for a month before squashing the opponent at a PPV. And he doesn't need that build-up. he already has that following. Giving him the IC belt moves him down and away from where he is now; he's wading in the kiddie pool and preventing others (Shelton, Christian, etc) from developing around that belt to reach the point where Batista is now.

I go two years without purchasing a PPV and THIS is the shit they give me?

Regal gets his nose busted again, Eugene tears up a knee, because we all know, falling after a dropkick is DANGEROUS!

Lita blows her knee out (looked legit to me) and Trish wins in about three minutes, hell the promo and recap of the fued was twice as long as the match.

Shelton gets a crap win over Maven. Maven gets all kind of heat though, so at least it helped him a little, in the "the guy is a dick" department.

King vs Arab man gets 20 minutes?

A Chicken fight? A Mother fucking CHICKEN FIGHT? Hell, at least I got a chuckle seeing Rosie in full gear, in the pool. BTW whatsherfaces top was untied, but was nowhere near falling off.

ANd the main event, Pretty decent, Y2J looked good, had the best Lionsault I have seen out of him in about 4 years. Batista was on fire, Benoit looked good, Edge was his crappy self (I dont like edge) HHH was, well, HHH and Randy Orton somehow gets to the final two.

BTW, IN the home of Carlos Colon, Randy Orton should be flat out arrested for his "blade job". I bled more with a paper cut than he did with a razor? Maybe Abdulla should have run out with a fork and helped him a bit.

My friend called me to tell me his cable company where he was watching couldn't get the signal due to a power outage. So, he ran back to his house, a county away, watched the main event and told me, not to waiste my time. The problem I see coming out of this is they are still trying to do Orton/HHH. Did they not see the ratings for their main event on Raw? Orton/HHH is going to be blow anyone away and so far hasn't. The only people who are routing for Orton are people still stuck in the Vince Star Maker Matrix. Those of us who have escaped the Matrix realize Orton is not anything special, just a bland mid-carder with a midcarder for a father.

Batista's slow burn was probably killed last night with him still kissing Hunter's ass at the end. Even if they pull the Evolution Main event for Mania Batista vs. Orton vs. HHH, its still going to get a low buyrate. The Main Event picture on Raw needs to change, because of right now its all Evolution all the time and its not paying the bills. They had a steady Raw rating when Benoit was champ and the locker room was killing HHH, now that we are at square one again, that'll pop the ratings. In the end, Raw's writers seem more content to please Steph and HHH than write good stories. I also can't believe I made that bet with Shapiro after this. Justin, you can put that sig on at anytime, now, man.

Live from San Juan, Puerto Rico:- Got tickets last minute when a friends wife gave 2 to him for 3 Kings Day, Thursday. Called me up and away we go. Got there at 6EST to see a line of about 10,000 of my closest wrestling friends waiting for the doors to open, ridiculous to say the least, especially since it was raining. Found some buddies and cut line of at least 5thou and went in the door right in time for Hurricane/Rosie vs. Canadians match. The energy of the place was out of this world. Botched finished of the match served as an Omen of things to come.- Lillian comes out in a PR top to a big ovation, hell I didn't know she was Puerto Rican, gave a great rendition of the PR anthem and hyped the crowd in Spanish of what to do when the PPV started.- As for the PPV, both injuries looked legit.- The chant for Maven was "Maven Pato" which translates to "Maven Fag", I gotta give props, he must've seen some old school Terry Funk in PR videos on how to get the crowd riled up.- King vs Hassan was a suck fest, I actually cheered for Hassan just for the 2nd rate citizen speech cause, all in all, it's true, but that was my liberal part just showing, got a few death stares to say the least.- Kane was way to over, oh well. My seats were 3 rows below the ceiling of the arena and we felt the heat from the pyro up there, intense.- Main event: HOT HOT HOT Crowd, incredible...but as you guys said, Batista was the man, best reaction of the night along with HHH. I saw the replay when I got home and even though it was loud, I don't think the TV audience could fully get the reaction Batista got throughout the ME.

Supposedly Smackdown is coming down for summer and I don't blame them, in all it was a great success for the WWE financially. Best job of all, Val Venis and company who came down to "work" poolside for the whole weekend. More details about to weekend later.

Originally posted by A FanBatista's slow burn was probably killed last night with him still kissing Hunter's ass at the end.

Eh, I don't see it that way. Batista did just what he said he'd do in the promo before the match. Help Hunter win, and if Hunter was Eliminated he would go after the belt. They teased him going back on that promise in the match. But what he didn't see, which they made a point to show in the replay at the end is how HHH, was going to help Batista stay in the match but then slumped back in the corner. Batista also looked a little reluctant to put HHH on his shoulders when Trips ordered him. There's a reason its a slow burn. Years ago the IWC bitched when angles were done too quick. Now the IWC bitches when angles aren't quick enough. Classic.

As for the PPV as a whole, meh. I've never been a big fan of the Elimination Chamber match, but that was the best of the 3 Elimination Chamber matches. Rest of the card was crap, partially because Trish/Lita got cut short. It felt like they were stalling because of it in several places.

"The problem I see coming out of this is they are still trying to do Orton/HHH."

What the Hell are you talking about? I don't claim to be on the inside of the booking right now, but from watching the show last night all logic is pointing towards Batista as Hunter's challenger, not Orton. Big Dave got in another coupla backhanded compliments backstage, they teased a confrontation between the two during the match, and after H had won all JR et al could talk about was how Batista was the decider of the match. On top of that they've now effectively had two Orton/Hunter one-on-ones in the space of a week, neither particularly well-received by the crowd, whereas Batista is blowing the roof off of whichever building he steps into.

"The Main Event picture on Raw needs to change, because of right now its all Evolution all the time and its not paying the bills. They had a steady Raw rating when Benoit was champ and the locker room was killing HHH, now that we are at square one again, that'll pop the ratings."

They've barely scratched the surface of where they can take the Batista/Trip feud. And I'll give you the increase during Raw Is Random Babyface, but dude, they're pulling down the same numbers now as they were when Benoit was champ.

Matt Tracker, I didn't say Batista should go for the IC title, I mean he should hover just under the Main Event scene until after 'Mania, and just because he gets massive pops doesn't mean he can get it done in the ring.

-WWF Title Reign #1 [August 23rd to September 14th, 1999]: Triple H became the WWF Champion on the August 23, 1999 edition of RAW. The plan was for him to win it at SummerSlam, but Steve Austin didn't want to job to him, so Mankind won the belt from Stone Cold and dropped the belt to Hunter 24 hours later. And, as would be the norm, Trips didn't exactly win clean: HHH ally Shane McMahon was the Special Guest Referee and Chyna got involved. A lot. The finish was marred by Chyna attacking Mankind and a referee brawl between Earl Hebner & Shane. Yep. Good start. Triple H's first reign ended on the September 16th, 1999 edition of Smackdown (Taped on the 14th)...against Vince friggin' McMahon. Triple H named Shane the referee and, since he was forced to defend his belt, his challenger. He chose Vince. So, in a glorious example of Russo-esque overbooking, we got Vince fighting the champion, while Chyna, Shane, Linda, Patterson & Brisco got involved. To call the match a clusterfuck would be too kind. It ended with Stone Cold, who was promised no title shot from Triple H, came in and gave out Stunners like candy. Vince vacated the title on RAW the next week.

-WWF Title Reign #2 [September 26th to November 14th, 1999]:Triple H was one of six men to fight for the vacant title at Unforgiven in the Six Pack Challenge [the others were The Rock, Mankind, Kane, the Big Show and the late British Bulldog, in his last taste of glory]. Stone Cold Steve Austin, injured again, was named the Special Enforcer. At the time, the WWF ran a shitty "Referees On Strike" angle, and scab referee Jimmy Korderas was reffing the main event. So, amidst a six-man brawl, referees brawled amongst themselves. Triple H took out The Rock with a Pedigree...and Steve Austin (the only pseudo-ref left) was forced to count the pin. Triple H lost the belt at Survivor Series. The plan was for a HHH/Rock/Austin megamatch...but Austin got hurt (again) and Big Show was inserted in. Upping the ante in the ongoing Triple H/Vince feud, Vince waffled HHH with the belt (after ref bumps from Hebner AND Shane and a DX run-in) and Big Show chokeslammed him for the title. Of course, a week or so later Hunter would marry Stephanie and everything would change...

-WWF Title Reign #3 [January 3rd to April 30th, 2000]:...well, not really. On January 3rd's RAW Triple H regained the title from Big Show after kicking him in the balls while X-Pac distracted the referee. After defending his title against Cactus Jack at the Royal Rumble AND No Way Out, and beating every face on the roster at WrestleMania, Hunter FINALLY lost the title at Backlash. And how? With a shitload of interference, culminating with Steve Austin returning and Stunnering HHH, allowing Rocky to get the pin.

-WWF Title Reign #4 [May 21st to June 25th, 2000]: The Rock lost the belt back to Triple H at the very next PPV (Judgment Day) in an excellent Iron Man Match that showcased just how good Triple H was before he tore his quad and got even more roided up. Shawn Michaels was the ref (and reffed fairly), DX (and Vince, Shane & Stephanie) ran-in...but the Undertaker returned and took out everybody. That included Triple H, and HBK saw it and awarded the deciding fall to Hunter by DQ, handing him the title. As was the norm, Hunter lost the belt on the very next PPV (King of the Ring). The match was a bizarre six-man tag match between Triple H, Vince & Shane and the team of The Rock, Undertaker & Kane. Whoever got the winning fall won the belt, and Rock pinned Vince.

-Undisputed (WWE) Title Reign #5 [March 17th to April 21st, 2002]: There was a bit of a gap between title wins, mostly because Trips tore his quad in May 2001 and was gone for a long time. He came back in January 2002 and won the Royal Rumble, then won the Undisputed Title from Chris Jericho at WrestleMania in a match that was notable due to the fact that the build-up ignored Jericho and focused on Stephanie. And Stephanie was the only person who interfered. A month later, Hulk Hogan beat HHH for the title at Backlash after run-ins from Chris Jericho AND the Undertaker. That was the last time Triple H would hold the WWF Championship, because the title was split and RAW got his own title.

RECAP: 5 WWF Title Reigns lasting a whopping 262 days (an average of 52 days per reign. Triple H never won the title clean...and never lost the title clean. Heck, once he lost the title without getting pinned!

-World Title Reign #1 [September 2nd to November 17th, 2002]: After Brock Lesnar won the Undisputed Title and became Smackdown exclusive, RAW GM Eric Bischoff pulled the World Heavyweight Title out of thin air and gave it to Triple H on the September 2, 2002 edition of RAW. No tournament, but the logic was that since HHH was the #1 contender on RAW, he deserved it. Triple H lost the belt in the Elimination Chamber at Survivor Series 2002 to Shawn Michaels...but that was a six-man match.

-World Title Reign #2 [December 15th, 2002 to September 21st, 2003]: A month later, HHH reclaimed his belt from HBK in a "3 Stages of Hell" Match that actually ended cleanly...by HHH standards. Triple H would go on to hold the title for 280 days (more than all of his WWF Title reigns combined), only to lose the title to Goldberg at 2003's Unforgiven after run-ins from a sledgehammer, which Goldberg blocked.

-World Title Reign #3 [December 14th, 2003 to March 14th, 2004]: A few months later (Armageddon 2003), Triple H regained his title in a 3-way match against Goldberg & Kane. Batista got involved, pulling Kane out of the ring and allowing HHH to pin a prone Goldberg for the win. At this point, Evolution had all the titles. The ongoing HHH/HBK feud was still ongoing. Then Benoit won the Royal Rumble, jumped to RAW...and made HHH tap out CLEAN at WrestleMania XX.

-World Title Reign #4 [September 12th to December 6th, 2004]: Benoit lost to Orton and Orton lost to Triple H at Unforgiven 2004 after Evolution distracted/beat up Orton a lot. The HHH reign ended after the "Everyone vs. Evolution" angle ended with Benoit & Edge both getting a victory declared over the other in a 3-way against HHH, making the belt vacant.

-World Title Reign #5 [January 9th, 2005 onwards]: And now we're back to square one.

Tonight will be the 861st day of the World Title's existance. Triple H has been champion for 533 of those days, or roughly 62% of the time. He's never won the title clean. His losses have protected him, either via six-ways or run-ins. The WrestleMania XX loss was the first time he's EVER lost the title via him giving up or getting beaten without him having to fight off five other guys.

Originally posted by hhhgamewmx7I don't know about Batista being ready for a title shot at WrestleMania. I can see Orton winning the Rumble which would overturn the ''can't face Triple H while he's champion'' rule, then bulid up Orton/Triple H tugging on Batista, then the Batsita turn comes at WrestleMania, with Orton winning the belt.

I believe that rule is already gone -- I think it was that Orton couldn't challenge HHH while he *remained* champion, not any time he was champion. Since he lost the title, that stipulation is now removed.

Personally I think last night pointed them towards a three-way at WM between HHH, Orton, and Batista. Both of the last two have issues with the other two of the threesome: Orton with Batista for costing him the win and with HHH for the pinfall and their feud overall; and Batista with Orton for pinning him and HHH for letting him get pinned.